Back To School: Pests To Be On The Lookout For

It’s time for the kids to start heading back to school. You’ve spent the last month buying school supplies, getting organized and buying special foods for snacks and lunches. Preparing to send the kids back to school can be a month long event. There is a lot to think about like sports schedules, parent teacher conferences, lunches, bake sales and more. Pest control might be the last thing on your mind this time of the year but there are a few different types of pests that show up in schools and homes more often after the school year starts.

Bed Bugs: Bed bugs are the hitchhiker bug. They can attach themselves on clothing and bags and they may even travel right to or from school your kids.

To prevent bed bugs from hitchhiking home with your child, try to minimize the items your children bring to school with them. Keep items stored in plastic containers if possible. If you know of a student who may have bed bugs, double check your children when they arrive home for any signs of bed bugs.

Lice: Lice are a very easily shared pest, especially when kids tend to share everything. They easily transfer from one child to the other by sharing a hat, a brush, a hair tie or any sort of hair product.

Make sure your child is regularly bathing and check their hair for any lice, especially if you have heard of any outbreaks at school. Also, remind your kids that sharing is good but to be cautious about what items they share.

Ants: Ants become an even more popular pest now that kids are having snack time and lunches together. Any little crumb can attract one ant which can soon become a whole colony of ants.

To help prevent ants in your home during the school season, try to keep all food sealed and in airtight containers. Remind kids to clean up after themselves and keep crumbs and spills cleaned up right away.

Fruit Flies: These small flies are likely to come from the snacks and food kids leave hanging around. Fruit flies are very small and very interested in the fruit that is left out. They can become quite the pest, passing along bacteria and pathogens so prevention is key.

To prevent these little pests it is another chance to keep things tidy. Remind your kids to place fruit in the appropriate sealed containers. Also disposing of any old fruit is essential to keeping these pests away.

If you find you have a pest problem in your home such as lice or bed bugs notify the school and try to keep your child home until the pest problem is contained. If you find you have a pest infestation, contact a local exterminator today to start a comprehensive plan to eliminate your pest problem.